BEIJING — Leaders of BRICS, the bloc of non-Western emerging economies led by China and Russia, called in unison for maximum restraint in the Middle East.
The leaders unanimously adopted a joint statement known as the New Delhi Declaration on the first day of their 18th summit in New Delhi on the 12th, according to Reuters and other outlets.
In the declaration, the leaders said they expressed deep concern over continuing escalation of tensions in the Middle East and urged maximum restraint and the avoidance of actions that could further worsen the situation. The statement did not assign responsibility to any specific country, including the United States or Iran.
The wording is seen as language acceptable to both Iran and the United Arab Emirates, member states that have clashed militarily several times during the conflict. A BRICS foreign ministers' meeting in May failed to produce a joint statement because of disagreement between Iran and the UAE.
The leaders also stressed their opposition to unilateral sanctions that violate international law. The language is read as targeting U.S. sanctions on Iran and Western sanctions imposed on Russia after the war in Ukraine. The leaders expressed serious concern over the growing use of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures that distort trade and run counter to World Trade Organization rules, sharpening the bloc's pushback against Washington.
This year's summit drew the leaders of all major member states, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose country holds the chair, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Xi's trip to India was his first in seven years and brought him face to face with Modi again about a year after their meeting in Tianjin last year. At the talks, Xi said China and India are cooperative partners rather than rivals, and proposed managing the border issue alongside bilateral relations while expanding economic and people-to-people exchanges. Xi and Modi also told Putin they were willing to play a mediating role in resolving the situation in Ukraine.
